Induction Chemotherapy with Weekly Paclitaxel Administration for Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma

Background: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) has a very dire prognosis and no effective therapeutic strategies have been established for ATC patients, especially those with stage IVB or IVC. Our objective was to investigate the effectiveness of weekly paclitaxel administered as induction chemotherapy and to establish novel therapeutic strategies for ATC. Methods: We performed induction chemotherapy by weekly paclitaxel administration for patients with stage IVB (nine patients) and IVC (four patients) disease. Clinical and histological responses were assessed. Overall survival was compared with that of ATC patients with stage IVB (n = 50) and IVC (n = 13) treated without paclitaxel. Results: One patient demonstrated complete response (CR) and two demonstrated partial response (PR) in the stage IVB group (response rate: 33%), and one patient showed PR in stage IVC (response rate: 25%). Curative surgery and adjuvant therapy were performed for four patients with stage IVB, and 32 months after treatment, all...